Teams & Riders Official Wout Van Aert thread

[KZD]

I think he can still be a great rider. He had some bad luck with mechanicals / bad crashes the last years. But yeah, gone is gone. Nevertheless, he should still be able to win Roubaix , RVV or SanRemo.

Well he has already won Sanremo back in 2020 and although he can win it again, he skip it this year, so it doesn't seem to be a priority for him anymore.

I still think he has everything to win Roubaix as he is very difficult to drop on flat cobbles and has a strong sprint but he has been suffering a lot of bad luck and Van der Poel stepped up his game this year.

As for De Ronde, I honestly would be a bit surprised if he manage to beat Van der Poel or Pogacar in that race. Last year, he was just dropped like a stone as he was in 2021. Remco could also become another rival for Van Aert there as he is planning to ride it next year.

Even though, I am not a fan, I am happy that he managed to win the stage today after so many near misses.

 

[jmdirt]

Wout with the win in Rojo!

I see what you mean about him being no good!

 

[red_flanders]

Winning a few Vuelta stages is like Roglic winning the Dauphine to me. Not the big fish you aim all season for but absolutely nice to grab

For sure, but also a big deal for him today after a tough season with injuries, and a long victory drought. Glad to see him get one!

 

[awavey]

Wout with the win in Rojo!

I see what you mean about him being no good!

Red something something gives you win(g)s ?

 

[awavey]

Winning a few Vuelta stages is like Roglic winning the Dauphine to me. Not the big fish you aim all season for but absolutely nice to grab

hopefully he wont have to wait more than a year to get the prize money for it either and its not like theyre even paying it all at once, theyre suggesting some kind of student loan style repayment plan over 5 years. (ToB this is btw)

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Great to see the big guy get a W!

 

[Oldermanish]

So much overreaction.

Mostly what happened is lost his edge in ITTs - which can likely be put down at least partially to Visma no longer having the best ITT setup, and no longer winning a lot of bunch sprints, which decreases his total volume of wins by a lot.

I still think he'll win a stage or two - but all the talk about winning much more gets way ahead of itself instantly

He intimated today that he may contest the overall. That couldn't possibly complicate things on Visma, now. Could it?
He and Remco could both fall into very successful recovery years, so far. Expecting him to knock down monuments will take until next season if he and the team are prepared to commit. Competition for them both is not sleeping, either.

 

[Nick2413]

Finally came through, much needed confidence booster for him.

 

[Sciatic]

He intimated today that he may contest the overall. That couldn't possibly complicate things on Visma, now. Could it?
He and Remco could both fall into very successful recovery years, so far. Expecting him to knock down monuments will take until next season if he and the team are prepared to commit. Competition for them both is not sleeping, either.

He also said, post-ride, that “tomorrow is for the GC guys.” Which he didn’t imply he my be one of.

 

[E_F_]

It's not like he has a chance in GC anyway.

 

[Penninepeddler]

His win yesterday ended a stretch of 8 podiums in a row without a win going back to February.

3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2

 

[Oldermanish]

He also said, post-ride, that “tomorrow is for the GC guys.” Which he didn’t imply he my be one of.

And so he wasn't. Hopefully Sepp is riding into form; there's a long way to go.

 

[Unchained]

Wout rode today void of pressure, thinking about Wednesday. He got feed multiple times, took some wind and semi strolled up the climb. I think Grove is faster in a drag race, but I am going for WvA again tomorrow!!

 

[Oldermanish]

Wout rode today void of pressure, thinking about Wednesday. He got feed multiple times, took some wind and semi strolled up the climb. I think Grove is faster in a drag race, but I am going for WvA again tomorrow!!

At least there is no ambiguity about whether he'll help the GC guys. Looks like only if he's in the mood.

 

[Unchained]

At least there is no ambiguity about whether he'll help the GC guys. Looks like only if he's in the mood.

I personally don't think Wout is overly selfish, I enjoy his style and enjoy his humility. Seeing the content he made w Rigoberto Uran and his recent stuff w Olympics and Remco. I sort of like that he is a sore loser, he always credits others out of class, We will see soon because Thursday through Sunday are not suited for Van Aert,
And for the finish Vuelta is going to be really tough for non climbing body types!!

 

[Oldermanish]

I personally don't think Wout is overly selfish, I enjoy his style and enjoy his humility. Seeing the content he made w Rigoberto Uran and his recent stuff w Olympics and Remco. I sort of like that he is a sore loser, he always credits others out of class, We will see soon because Thursday through Sunday are not suited for Van Aert,
And for the finish Vuelta is going to be really tough for non climbing body types!!

I agree for the most part but my comment was largely a follow up to the mixed message of Visma strategy to the press. We know that's largely bs as with all teams but they seem to scramble to show any allegiance to Kuss. He had a tough first climbing day but he fared better at 100 degrees than most of UAE, too.

 

[Unchained]

Bit of a bottling job today

The overhead video has Wout and young Pavel just dropping people w their speed!! Czech mate!!

 

[Andre]

1st. once
2nd twice
3rd once

 

[Panda Claws]

Boom. 2nd stage in the bag.

 

[Andre]

it's not just you...he looks very strong on the climb

 

[SafeBet]

Is it me or is this the best he's looked climbing in quite a while.

He doesn't look past his peak, that's for sure.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Which is extremely important at this point. His speed is definitely there, but from now on he needs his climbing legs. Realistic stage wins left are stage 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18 and then the finishing TT on stage 21. Some of the stages are right on the limit, but if he's climbing this well, they are within his reach.. and then you of course have the Worlds where its all about Remco and Pog, and all he needs there is those two to mark each other and be equally strong, then he can win. He's the 3rd biggest favorite anyways I think, and who knows, after Remco being proactive all the time, maybe he will try that now.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah well, he can basically win any stage outside of the 6 mountain stages left. Manzanada is child's play, he finished 2nd to Poels last year on Mont Blanc in worse shape. The true mountain stages all should be too hard though realistically, even though lets say he ends up in a weaker break on stage 19 for example to Moncalvillo, why not?

 

[tobydawq]

I know, I also wrote about Pogacar when he won the Tour that he now had as many wins as Roglic.

I saw a potential for a lot of likes but I was caught out sooner than I had hoped

Wout Van Aert now has as many wins as Mathieu van der Poel.

 

[Keldergoat]

What a monster, what a legend.